This excellent novel was a bestseller in the 1960s and that in of itself is a sad testament to the intellectual decline of the American reader. Its a novelized biography of the fourth century Roman Emperor Julian, known as The Apostate.

It’s interesting that in the last year or so there have been two movies about the Roman legion “lost” in North Britain during the Hadrianic period. It just goes to prove that Hollywood loves to copy. Two volcano movies? Two Wyatt Earp films? Two Lambada films? And, to boot, it’s unlikely the legion was actually “lost” (as in militarily). More likely it was just disbanded and the sketchy historical record makes it seem to have disappeared.

What better intersection of my interests than a meal based on Ancient Roman cuisine. On Thursday July 14 and 15th the Getty Villa offered a combination of lecture on ancient food and a meal of authentic Roman dishes based on…

Ben was a pretty amazing guy, as influential in his own wry way as any man in history. And he didn’t kill thousands or conquer nations doing it. Ben was a man of rare genius. And he’s depicted here with all his very human faults. But fundamentally he was a spirit of curiosity, optimism, energy, and general good intentions.

I was back at my parents for the ThanksGavin and I noticed the magazine cover to the right sitting in their powder room. This ceramic dog head, it turns out, is an late 18th or early 19th century British object…

On Friday, Nov 19, 2010 we went to a special event at the Getty Villa. The Making of a Satyr Play Villa Education presents a workshop on Sophocles‘ play Trackers, the second most completely preserved script of a satyr play, featured…